Summer in Italy

It is Saturday morning, 7am. I've been up since 5:30. We're in a little town called Coste, just above another little town Trevi, which is just down the road from Foligno. In order to get to our little haven here you need to wind your way up, up, up various roads, twisting and turning. Ellen (Mark's mom) and Moose (Mark's friend) arrived Wednesday into Rome just as we were returning from Spain. We had spent last Sunday through Wednesday morning exploring our way through Barcelona--an aquarium with an 80 meter shark tunnel walkway (totally cool), a cathedral or two, Antonio Gaudi building and church (crazy architecture), escargots and more delicious paella. I left Spain thinking I would miss the chocolate and churros, the paella, late sunsets and later dinners. But...it doesn't tug at my heart like Italy. Italy grounds me in some way--freedom, warmth, relaxation. Maybe it has to do with not feeling rushed. Enjoying the moment. Look around and you see people engaged in talking, laughing, eating gelati, arguing. They are all engaged in whatever it is they are doing. You don't get any sense of restlessness. You don't get that sense that they wonder if they could be or should be doing something more entertaining. Each moment they are the star of their own show--sweeping the poolside, hanging the laundry, licking a gelato, sipping a cappuccino, ordering prosciutto, filletto, parmigiana--life is just as it should be for the moment.

We arrived at our apartment and decided that we should take the second apartment as well. The balcony from our bedroom looks out over the entire valley below. It is stunning. The landlady, Maria Louisa and her husband, live below us part time--they are quite nice. The first morning she brought us pastries and biscotti in a bag, offered to wash and hang our laundry and then proceeded to iron a few of our shirts. Her husband walked us to a nearby restaurant and then offered to drive us down the hill to yet another restaurant the next evening.

Thursday we relaxed, went into Foligno and ate at the CentralBar in the piazza. Yesterday we mustered the courage to drive to Perugia (my first time driving in Italy). As Natalie had indicated, if we simply followed the signs to Perugia with the black bulls-eye, we would have no problems finding the moving stairs (scala mobile) and the top of the city.

Steve arrives today from Iraq and staying until Tuesday. Mark is picking him up in Rome. Party tonight.

A bit about the photos below:

1) Max and Ella tried this bungee jumpy-type thing. What a delight for them. 5 minutes of soaring to high heaven. 2) Ella tried and liked escargots. She has been so adventurous--trying any number of things, including sea urchin. 3) a Gaudi office building in Barcelona. Drippy, eerie, animal-like, fascinating, dark. 4) Ella has been such the experienced traveler. She and Max have been responsible for their luggage wherever we go. 5) Max coming in for a hug at our pool in Trevi. 6) In the depths of the Scala Mobile (a series of underground? escalators that take you to the top of Perugia) there are various artsy museum sites. We stopped at one. 7) In Perugia we ate outside under umbrellas at a cafe and got caught in a downpour. Ella wanted to step out in it. 8) Yet another Perugia photo (did I already take this one on our last trip?) I absolutely love these arches.


		Saturday, August 4
	It is Saturday morning, 7am. I've been up since 5:30. We're in a little town called Coste, just above another little town Trevi, which is just down the road from Foligno. In order to get to our little haven here you need to wind your way up, up, up various roads, twisting and turning. Ellen (Mark's mom) and Moose (Mark's friend) arrived Wednesday into Rome just as we were returning from Spain. We had spent last Sunday through Wednesday morning exploring our way through Barcelona--an aquarium with an 80 meter shark tunnel walkway (totally cool), a cathedral or two, Antonio Gaudi building and church (crazy architecture), escargots and more delicious paella. I left Spain thinking I would miss the chocolate and churros, the paella, late sunsets and later dinners. But...it doesn't tug at my heart like Italy. Italy grounds me in some way--freedom, warmth, relaxation. Maybe it has to do with not feeling rushed. Enjoying the moment. Look around and you see people engaged in talking, laughing, eating gelati, arguing. They are all engaged in whatever it is they are doing. You don't get any sense of restlessness. You don't get that sense that they wonder if they could be or should be doing something more entertaining. Each moment they are the star of their own show--sweeping the poolside, hanging the laundry, licking a gelato, sipping a cappuccino, ordering prosciutto, filletto, parmigiana--life is just as it should be for the moment. We arrived at our apartment and decided that we should take the second apartment as well. The balcony from our bedroom looks out over the entire valley below. It is stunning. The landlady, Maria Louisa and her husband, live below us part time--they are quite nice. The first morning she brought us pastries and biscotti in a bag, offered to wash and hang our laundry and then proceeded to iron a few of our shirts. Her husband walked us to a nearby restaurant and then offered to drive us down the hill to yet another restaurant the next evening. Thursday we relaxed, went into Foligno and ate at the CentralBar in the piazza. Yesterday we mustered the courage to drive to Perugia (my first time driving in Italy). As Natalie had indicated, if we simply followed the signs to Perugia with the black bulls-eye, we would have no problems finding the moving stairs (scala mobile) and the top of the city. Steve arrives today from Iraq and staying until Tuesday. Mark is picking him up in Rome. Party tonight. A bit about the photos below: 1) Max and Ella tried this bungee jumpy-type thing. What a delight for them. 5 minutes of soaring to high heaven. 2) Ella tried and liked escargots. She has been so adventurous--trying any number of things, including sea urchin. 3) a Gaudi office building in Barcelona. Drippy, eerie, animal-like, fascinating, dark. 4) Ella has been such the experienced traveler. She and Max have been responsible for their luggage wherever we go. 5) Max coming in for a hug at our pool in Trevi. 6) In the depths of the Scala Mobile (a series of underground? escalators that take you to the top of Perugia) there are various artsy museum sites. We stopped at one. 7) In Perugia we ate outside under umbrellas at a cafe and got caught in a downpour. Ella wanted to step out in it. 8) Yet another Perugia photo (did I already take this one on our last trip?) I absolutely love these arches.